ost - OS Templates
What is ost?
ost is a simple yet powerful tool providing mechanisms
to automatically audit, maintain and backup systems customizations.
It is particularly well suited to environments where most systems are
similarly configured, but will operate just as well if each system is
unique.
ost uses at least one of the following two sets of input:
- the system's file catalog if one exists
- user defined "templates" to override the system's catalog
These allow ost to build a virtual image of what the local
filesystem is supposed to look like. This image is then compared to the
actual state of the local filesystem to obtain the following information
about the system:
- List of intact files
- List of modified files
- List of missing files
- List of additional files
The above is then used to perform one or more actions:
- Write up an easy to parse (by humans or scripts) report.
- Automatically update and/or delete files according to configuration.
- Backup modified and added files.
- Run script(s) based on which file(s) ost updated and/or deleted.
When properly configured, ost can be used instead of "real"
backups of the entire system root drive (which is mostly what you get on
the CD from your vendor!).
© 2002-2008 - Christophe Kalt